OUR JOURNEY
We are a women-led climate adaptation organisation founded by Apekshita Varshney in response to India’s rapidly worsening extreme heat crisis. Her reporting across the country exposed the crisis’s deep and uneven burden, and how inadequate current responses remain. That experience shaped our commitment to documenting the crisis and advancing solutions grounded in economic and social justice.
HeatWatch produces decision-relevant research rooted in lived realities, combining data, research, and community knowledge to generate actionable insights that strengthen advocacy and inform decision-making for policymakers, businesses, and allied actors.
This work is sustained by partnerships with worker collectives, unions, researchers, grassroots organisations, progressive businesses and government agencies, helping build the evidence and collective momentum needed to address extreme heat with urgency, accountability, and justice.
OUR MISSION
To build a movement for extreme heat justice, rooted in lived experience, collective action, and accountability.
Meet the Team
Apekshita Varshney
Founder & EDApekshita Varshney is the Founder and Executive Director of HeatWatch and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Climate Resilience Center. With over a decade of experience across media, international nonprofits, and multilateral institutions including the United Nations, she specialises in strategic communications, advocacy, community-led research, programme design, and policy engagement. Her work focuses on the intersections of urban development, labour rights, corporate accountability, and climate resilience. She is a 2024 Mira Fellow and was recognised among South Asia's top women leaders for the 2025 Australia Awards programme. Varshney holds an MSc from University College London, where she was a Commonwealth Scholar.
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Vybavi S S
Project AssociateVybavi S S is a Project Associate at HeatWatch Foundation, working on a project studying how rising urban heat stress affects domestic workers in Bengaluru. She also supports HeatWatch's citizen-led Open Our Parks campaign in Bengaluru, alongside other ongoing work at the organisation. Trained as a lawyer, she holds a Master's degree in Intellectual Property and Trade Laws. Her interest in research and in working more closely with communities led her to transition from legal practice to the social sector, where she focuses on understanding the everyday challenges people face through research and community engagement.
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Ananya Pathak
Design LeadAnanya manages social media and graphic design at HeatWatch, where she designs publications and creates relevant posts for our digital platforms. She is an undergraduate student at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, with experience in non-profit communications across climate and gender justice. Her creative interests extend to everything between film and ceramics.
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Ananya Tiwary
Project AssociateAnanya is a Project Associate at HeatWatch, leading the study on heat resilience among women gig workers in Delhi, India. She holds an MA in public policy from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, and has previously worked as a consultant with Social Compact, focusing on informal worker wellbeing and social protection. Outside of work, she enjoys strength training at the gym and learning new languages.
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Manal Iqbal
ConsultantManal Iqbal is a Climate Change Strategy Professional with over 3 years of experience in climate risks, policy, and vulnerability assessments. She has worked with organisations around the world tackling climate policy analysis, adaptation governance, climate risk and impacts, and regulatory frameworks. She has an MSc degree in Climate Science and Policy from TERI School of Advanced Studies and a BSc degree in Physics from Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi.
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